Device for protection of municipalities against incendiary bombs and delayed-action bombs



June 13, `1944. M. c. scHwAB DEVICE FOR PROTECTION 0F MUNICIPALITIES AGAINST INCENDIARY BOMBS AND DELAYED ACTION BOMBS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 27, 1941 n VI..

June 13, 1944. M. c. scHwAB 2,351,297

DEVICE-FOR PROTECTION OF MUNICIPALITIES AGAINST INCENDIARY BOMBS AND DELAYED ACTION BOMBS Filed Sept. 27, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 55 twg/i706? cfzm.. @y 'PML GMW@ @i herein."-

. meneame ,13,A 1944 ulvrlfll-ySTATES PATENT@ .ori-*lcs I I 2,351,291 'pavxcn ronrnornctronoFV-Mumomau- TIES AGAINSTINCENDIARY nomas-AND .nELArEn-ac'rloivnonms-. Marti-n Cil-Schwab, (,lliieago, lll.v 'Y Application september- 21,. 194'1, s'eriai No. 412,584

f soims. 'lc1;1oa49.5), 1 of the su'bsoil in front' of said bundmg'arld disclosing the present invention;

lhis Vinventionrelates-to national defense, and more particularly to 'devices 'fQlprotecting buildings and municipal areas against incendiary and.

delayed action bombs.-

' 'A development'of theicurrent war hasI been the threatened destructionof.- municipalities due to the promiscuous bombing," particularly with small incendiary bombs containing. readily' inammable material such as -Thermite which are dropped in great numbers` and generate upon Fig. '2, a, view in perspective ofl a device for i '.protectinggbuildings against incelzidiarv. bombs:V

Fig. 3,- a vertical sectional View through a sand'- bag employedin the device for protecting build-V ings agalnst'incendiary bombs;

contact small flames of Ahigh heat.' It-has been found necesasry in European cities subjectto attackby incendiary b ombs to employ numerous.' nre `watchers stationed on every building in theV area subject to attack, and who are provided with equipment to extinguish rapidly flrestar'ted by the incendiary bombs. An object of the; present invention is, therefore, the productionof devices .to protectbuildings against attack with incendiary bombs and explosive ,bombs vand to alleviate .the need for employing numerous nre watchers whose number can be materially reduced, hence freeing them for other important,

defense work,' by employing the devices' disclosed The invention `also contemplates the provision of means for rapidly disposing of delayed action high-explosive bombs, which have been employed in the current European war, and also"duds which vhave no t exploded upon Striking fthe y Such bombs areprovided with time fuses which do not permit the explosion of such ground.

bomb for several hours after theyv have` been dropped. They ,have been a'danger and insiduous weapon, not only because of the destruction done to property and human lives, but becauseof the fact that until the `bombs have exploded'it is necessary to close off the areas surrounding the point in which they lie,land more particularly because of the damage to the nervous systems of persons already subjected to the stresses of modern warfare directed against civilion populations, arising from the presence of bombs liable to explode at any unknown moment. The invention contemplates the provision of 'wells or bores extending downwardly from the' surface with specially adapted covers' and trucks designed to rapidly pick up and convey time bombs to such disposal wells.

The invention will be readily understood from Fig," 4, a side elevation o f a truck adapted to` .pick up and transportdelayed action bombs andshowirig in section a' portion of' a well for disposing of such bombs; and

t. Fig. 5,' a plan view of the construction shown in Fg.r4, taken:along.the lines 5 5 of Eig. 4. Referring to Fig. 1,'the reference character l0 indicates a' conventional modern-municipal cnice building provided with a main building`1l and a.

.tower section l2.- Two adjoining buildings `2 4.

53 'are not equipped with my improved protective device `against incendiary bombs', and building 53 isshown on re started by `the dropping of in# cendiar-y bombs. In accordance with the-present invention, theupper three or four stories of olce' buildings in. localities subject 'to abomb 'attack arevacated of their usual equipment, such. as furniture and the like, window frames', vall combustible material and 'all brick or stone work adapted to be shattered and thrown to the street 4by a bomb explosion. In the rooms ofthese upper floors are stacked, one upon the other, a plurality of sandbags 13. 'Ihe roofs of such buildings 4are'also provided with rows of sandbags I 4 stacked cne upon the other, Thus, if a high explosive' bomb strikes the roof 0f the building.'

the concussion and the explosive charge will be absorbed to a great extent by' the bags |3 of sand and the damage lwill almost completely be con# iined to the upper three or four stories. VIf de siied. awire netting may be `draped around the building to catch any portions of the wall which may be dislodged by the 'explosion and prevent their fall to the street.

The corner posts of the towerfsections of such` buildings and all four corners of buildings having flat roofs without oiset portions are pro? 'by steel 'chains Il.` Upon'. this netting are dis posed rows of sandbags I8 disposed in layers two or three feet deep: The sandbags i8' may be formed of convas material which has been waterproofed, and whenthe-bags are lled the sand 'is wetted so that, due to the impervious'covering,

.it wm'retam its moiscre and. tend to extinguish the names started by the deposition of incendiary bombs thereon.

proof material, suchas rubber, rubberized fabric, Koroseal and the like, and the upper portion. may be a non-waterproof canvas. Thus the sand within the bags I8 may be kept wet in dry weather by sprinkling them every few days. Likewise bags;

Ia formed of rubber or rubberized fabric and containing water may be interspersed among the portion 33 andhaving a curved concave end 39 are employed to .transport the delayed action As shown in Fig. 3. the lower portion 25 of the bags may -be formed of a watersandbags, as shown in`Flg..2. Such bags will be burst if an incendiary bomb, which is watery extinguishable. drops near them and will. assist .bombs from wherever they may strike to the most convenient well 30. The-trucks are provided with a frame d having an upper horizontal rail 4i on which is'm'ounted a guideroller 42 .and a dolly 33 equipped with -a guide roller d4 and a stop member.; 54 limiting the `movement of the dolly 43 on the rail d I..v Behind the cab 4-5 'of the truck is a sheet 'of armor steel #it4 forming a part ofthe frame of the truckand adapted to afford some 'measure of 'protection to thedriver against untimely explosion of abomb during its'transportation to the disposal well. Mounted on the body of the truck is a reel 41 carrying a third Manila rope 48 leading over the guide 'roll 48 mounted onthe frame of the truck, jover the guide roll 42 carried on the rail 4I, and over the guide roll 44 of the dolly 43. The rope 4Bjis provided with bifurcated end portions 55, each portion having -at its ends a hook 50 which is adapted to be `slipped under eyes 5B secured to a metal collar v26 of the type described. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1',

incendiary bombs striking the wire netting I6 can do little or no damage, since there is no combustible material on the wire netting I6 Vand the names formed by the incendiary bombs. willbe readily extinguished. Explosive bombs 23'striking the wire netting will,of course, do no damage to the netting, since they may penetrate the netting, but, due tothe presence of layers of sandof a jacket 51 adapted to be'slipped loosely over theend of a bomb'to be transported. The jacket 5 1 is preferably lformed of heavy durable canvas equipped with a plurality? of4 bumpers 58 which may be slipped into pockets in- .the jacket after it has been drawn over the bomb.

. In operation, the. presenceofan unexploded delayed vaction bomb 5I is reportedto a central headquarters who may communicate with the driver of a truck 3 1. which is most adjacent to the bags upon the roof of the building and' thefupper stories thereof, l'can do but littledamage upon explosion. Thus, it will be seen that my invention provides Vadequate protection to buildings against both incendiary and. explosive bombs. The invention also contemplates improved devices for the ready and rapid disposal of delayed action time bombs. Such devices include the provisio'n of wells 30 extending vertically. .into the earth 'and in which delayed action time bombs may be dumped and permitted to explode without damage. The depth'of such wells will depend, to a large extent, upon the nature ofthe. subsoil, since if the subsoil is soft the concussionA from the explosion will be more readily absorbed than bomb,.since the trucks are preferably provided with short wave receiving sets similar to those employed in police squad cars'to receive reports of criminal events and advise the driver to proceed rapidly -to the spot where the bomb` has fallen. 'Upon arrival, jthe end 'of thebomb is manually` lifted a little bit to slip the canvas jacket over it. The dollyl 43 is drawn to its rear-'- most position, as shown in Fig. 4, the lifting cables 48 are unreeled, the hooks 50 are slipped under the eyes-Bion the bag 51. The bomb 5I is trans- Vin a hard solid rockV subsoil, but in most cases j the wells will extend at least 300 or 400 feet below the surface of the ground and in some cases 1000 feet. The wells will extend well below building foundations and such subterranean conduits .as are provided in municipalities for telephone wires,

, sewage disposal, gas mains, telephone lines and the like. The portions 3l of the well, extending throughsolid rock `subsoil, need not-b e-'lined, but'l as shown in Fig. 1, the portions. ofthe well exi tending through soft dirt, sand or clay 32 are provided with linings 33 of brick or concrete. The openings to the bomb disposal wells 3Q are usually provided alongthe parkways of the streets, and the well has an'upper section 34 extendingfrom -.two `to three feet above the earths surface.' The i prevent crumbling ofthe sides of thewells.

n v Trucks 31'equipped with ,the usual fiat body ported in the vertical position as shown in Fig. 4 after it has been raised horizontally by a sling 52 disposed underboth ends ofthe` bomb, as

lshown in Fig. 1. The rope 4.8 is then reeled in ,aboutthe winch 41, lifting the bomb from the ground, the dolly drawn in to the position shown in dotted lines 'in Fig. 4', and the truck rapidly driven to the m'ost adjacent well 30. The truck is then backed up against the upper'portlon 34 of the well and since the. end 39 .of the truck frame is concave', the center 'line' of kthe truck' will be in line with. the center of the well 30. The

. well cover 35 is opened, the dolly 43 drawn rearwardly until the bomb I5l) is centered over the opening of the well, and thebrake on the winch character 60. The bumpers 30 vreleased so that the vbomb A59 may be lowered harmlessly into the well where lit may explode without destruction, as indicated by the reference 58 on the jacket 51 tend-to keep the bomb from striking the sides has been lowered into the well 15 or more feet, the .line 48 is cut, permitting .thebomb to fall to the bottom of the For example, in built-up areas awellf the corners of every other` block to serve the four adjacent blocks. The wellsj may `be hooded to' .provide hydrostaticv pressure at lower depths to well.. By providing the truck with a concave end 34 adapted to. iit about one side of .the cylindrical n upper section. of the well, it will Abe seenithat the dolly 43'may be disposed above the well mouth without considerable backing ofthe truck or manual handling of the Kunexploded bomb. Thus,

J: have provided means for -rapidly picking up and transporting. unexploded delayed action bombs and duds, which are much more eii'lcient Y and less dangerous than the present means of l disposing of such bombs through tragic to d isposts mountedat Vthe bow, stern and along the;n shipsn beams. V'Sandbags may be'disposed in lthe nets in the manner described.

What I claim is:

1. In a building construction, devices for .protecting said building. against incendiary bombs, comprising a wire netting extending above the top of said building, a plurality of posts mounted i along the edge of the 4roof of said building and supporting said wire netting, and axplurality ofbags illed with sand covering said netting.

2. In a building construction, devices forprotecting said building against incendiary bombs, comprising a wire netting extending above the top of said building, a plurality of .posts along the edge of the roof of said building and s upporting saidwire netting above the roof of-said building anda plurality of bags lled with sand covering said netting.

3. In a building construction, devices for protecting said building against incendiary bombs, comprising a wire netting extending above the top of said building, -a plurality of posts extending above the building from the roof thereof and 4. In a building commotion comprising a main section and a tower section, a device for protecting said building construction against incendiary bombs, comprising a wire netting supported above the roof of said tower section and having a por' tion extending to the edge.of the roof of said main section remote from said tower section, a plurality of angle bars secured in rows on the extended portion of the wire netting and having vertically extended portions, and aplurality of bags lled with sand covering said wire netting and bein'g supported in the angle bars on said wire nettingextension.

5. Inabuilding construction comprising amain section and a tower section, a devicefor pro-V Y tcting said building construction against incendiary bombs; comprising a Wire netting supported above the roof `of said tower' section and having a portion extending to the edge of the` roof of said main section remote from said tower section, a plurality of angle bars secured in rows on the extended portion of said wire netting and having vertically extended portions,and a plurality of bags villed with sand covering said wire net- 'ting and beingl supported in the angle bars on said wire netting extension, the lower. portion of said bags being formed of waterproof material.

l 6. In a building construction comprising a. main section and a tower section, a device for protecting said building construction against incendiary bombs, comprising a wire netting supported above the roof of said tower section and having a portion extending to the edge of the roof of said main section rem'ote from said tower section, a

supporting said netting above said building, a

plurality of bags filled with -sand covering said netting and sacks formed of waterproof material and containing water interspersed among said bags of sand on said netting. A

.plurality of angle .bars secured in rows on the extended portion of said wire netting and having vertically extended portions, a plurality of bags A iilled with sand covering said wire netting and being supported in the angle bars on said wire netting extension, and sacks formed of waterproof material and containing water interspersed among said bags of sand on said netting..

' MARTIN 4C. SCHWAB. 

